Ch104 - Inertial Concern

A reserve grim reaper?

Ji Xiunian couldn’t comprehend what that meant for a moment, and a panicked expression appeared on his face. “Am I not your order?”

“There was a mistake in the system before. You’re actually my colleague.” Even Lu Xu had thought this reversal was too sudden, so there was no need to even question Ji Xiunian’s reaction.

When he looked at Lu Xu, he felt that everything today had happened in a dream. In a few short hours, he had experienced the biggest ups and downs of his life. Anyone would have found this unbelievable. Ji Xiunian stared steadily into Lu Xu’s eyes, but only saw that he was acting as he usually did, without any traces of lying.

“I’m also a grim reaper?” Ji Xiunian knew that Lu Xu wasn’t joking with him, but he couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of requirements are in place to become a grim reaper? Or did the system happen to choose me randomly?”

Ji Xiunian had been a mortal his entire life. Just seeing ghosts made him feel like the world was complicated. Now that he had been recognised by another grim reaper as a grim reaper, the change was quite big.

“This isn’t random. You could say it’s fate?” When Lu Xu looked at Ji Xiunian, he couldn’t help but think of Zhong Huiqing. He didn’t know how much Ji Xiunian knew about his mother.

Since they were going to work together, Lu Xu didn’t think there was anything he shouldn’t talk about.

“Do you remember much about your mother?”

Ji Xiunian didn’t know why Lu Xu asked him about his mother. He thought for a moment but still shook his head. “Not too much.”

He was still young when his parents had left this world. He really didn’t have much of an impression of either of them. The only thing he had to remind him of them was the jade pendant his mother had given him. He had nothing else otherwise.

Wait a moment, jade pendant?

Ji Xiunian thought carefully, instinctually feeling that this jade pendant wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

A protective amulet that could suppress his death energy and allow him to escape many dangerous situations was clearly not an ordinary trinket.

But with this kind of treasure, where had his mother come from then?

As if he had heard his inner musings, Lu Xu immediately told Ji Xiunian, “You’ve probably guessed already, the reason why you can become a grim reaper is because your mother was a grim reaper…”

Lu Xu didn’t know much about Zhong Huiqing. All his knowledge had come from what the Bureau Head had told him.

Although Zhong Huiqing and Ji Xiunian’s father’s love story sounded a little like a novel or drama plotline, it was still more or less reasonable.

“The death energy on your body isn’t because you’re about to die, but because you were destined from the moment you were born to become a grim reaper.” Lu Xu made an effort to organise his words, trying to explain the entire complicated situation in concise words. He then glanced towards Ji Xiunian. “It’s basically this. Nian ge, do you understand?”

Ji Xiunian nodded at first, then shook his head. He felt that the world was very fantastical.

Not even in his dreams would he have thought that his mother was a grim reaper.

Ever since he could remember, the people around him were either dying or wounded. Because his parents had died early, the elders in his family had taken him to divine his future.

The so-called master swore that Ji Xiunian was under a star of slaughter, destined to be alone and to die young.

Ji Xiunian said he didn’t believe in fate, but these words had still impacted him.

He was very afraid that his life would bring unluckiness, so he very rarely became close with others.

Ji Xiunian had always believed the problem lay within himself, and hadn’t thought that all of this had a predestined outcome instead.

It was only now that he realised that he truly knew nothing about his parents.

“So, do you know where they are now?”

As a child, Ji Xiunian had only vaguely heard about how his parents had met with some accident, but since he had been too young, he hadn’t even seen them for the last time.

Now that he heard Lu Xu talking about this, Ji Xiunian inexplicably felt that this situation wasn’t so simple.

Zhong Huiqing had once been the head of a department at the Grim Reaper Bureau, and was a queen of her profession at the time. Even though she had given up on being a grim reaper, there was no way no one knew where her soul had gone.

Naturally Lu Xu had already thought of this, and shook his head. “The Grim Reaper Bureau investigated this that year, but they had to let go of it due to a lack of leads.”

Let go of it…

Ji Xiunian didn’t know how to explain his current mood. If his family had just been normal mortals, then he wouldn’t have needed to think about all this before knowing. But now that he knew that his parents had left this world under suspicious circumstances, how could he not think about it even more?

“If I become a grim reaper, can I start a new investigation?” Ji Xiunian wasn’t very clear on what it meant to become a grim reaper, but he wanted to investigate it himself.

He was okay with not asking or caring about anything else, but he had to for his family.

Even if their fate was shallow, he still wanted to open up a road to justice for them.

Ji Xiunian didn’t know if his request was overly presumptuous. His mind was in a slight state of disarray.

“Even if you don’t become a grim reaper, I’d still help you investigate it.” The Lu Xu at his side suddenly opened his mouth. His tone was rarely this gentle.

Ji Xiunian couldn’t help raising his head to look at him. He hadn’t thought Lu Xu would actually say something like this.

The night breeze blew, blowing the curtains into moving, bringing along a hint of a chill. Ba Mei lay sleepily with its four paws up in the air on the bed, murmuring.

The more fragmentary white noise there was, the more tranquil the room seemed.

Ji Xiunian looked at Lu Xu, and couldn’t tell for a moment if he was bluffing or being genuine.

Lu Xu had walked the mortal world for so many years, and could immediately sense Ji Xiunian’s hesitation. He shrugged and smiled. “Nian ge, I’m telling the truth. No matter if you become a grim reaper or not, I will help you investigate this matter. No matter how long it takes, it will come to light one day.”

Speaking of which, the Zhong Huiqing who hadn’t fallen in love with a mortal yet resembled Lu Xu a bit in every aspect.

In terms of the Grim Reaper Bureau, the prowess at their jobs, the fact that they were leaders in the grim reaper profession.

The fact that such a senior had died in a muddled way was something Lu Xu naturally did not want to let go of.

Besides, he felt that the disappearance of the two people had not been simple, so there was definitely something waiting to be uncovered by them.

Lu Xu liked a challenge. The higher the degree of difficulty, the more he wanted to try it.

His gaze was steady and carried comfort as he looked back into Ji Xiunian’s eyes.

The him today was not as naive and pure as he was before, but this made Ji Xiunian inexplicably feel that they had become even closer.

He originally thought that Lu Xu would reject him or make excuses. He hadn’t expected Lu Xu would actually be so serious about it.

His previous concealment seemed like nothing now. As long as everything good right now was real, Ji Xiunian believed he could ignore it.

“Lu Xu, thank you.”

Ji Xiunian spoke these words respectfully, his tone carrying both gratitude and emotion.

It was already dawn. The sky outside was lightning up, and would be bright before long.

Lu Xu lay down next to Ba Mei, his tone once again relaxed. “Actually you don’t have much to thank me for. After all, Nian ge, you’re my only friend in the mortal realm. Friends don’t have to be polite with each other, right?”

His only friend…

Only…

These words made Ji Xiunian feel very comfortable. The feeling settled at the bottom of his heart, along with some traces of being moved.

Faced with Lu Xu’s question, Ji Xiunian wanted to nod, but before he could, Lu Xu’s words had turned into another topic, and he continued with, “Of course, if you’re really touched and want to repay me, you should work hard together with me and set up our business together. Although there’s not too much pressure. After all, I’ve already done quite a bit this quarter, enough to give you time to get used to your work…”

This was not the first time Ji Xiunian had heard the word ‘business’ come out of Lu Xu’s mouth. When the survival show had first begun, Ji Xiunian had heard him say that he had a job in sales. Although he was working a part-time job while attending the survival show, Ji Xiunian would have never have thought that the ‘setting up business together” Lu Xu was talking about was Lu Xu’s official profession.

“So how do we set up this business?”

Although Ji Xiunian wasn’t clear as to what exactly grim reapers did in their line of business, he knew just from listening to the job title that it was probably work to do with harvesting souls.

When he thought of the way Lu Xu had just dealt with the evil spirit, it seemed that he had been giving him some kind of pre-employment training.

Just as Ji Xiunian thought this, Lu Xu responded very quickly. “Your letter of appointment hasn’t come yet, so we’ll count this time as your intern period. When I go to receive clients, I’ll take you along. You’ll learn after watching it a few times.”

“Okay.” Someone who was originally his student suddenly had become both his colleague and senior, and was even in charge of his work training. No matter how he thought about it, this really made one feel like the world was strange.

Seeing that Ji Xiunian was still in a daze, Lu Xu couldn’t help but pat at the space next to him. “Come sleep, you must be tired after being so busy all day.”

Lu Xu spoke very candidly. Even his invitation was straightforward and enthusiastic. He half-lay on the bed like that, his clothes pulled up slightly to reveal his slim waist, his eyes glistening with light.

Now that there were no secrets between the two of them, their relationship became much closer than before.

Ji Xiunian didn’t wiggle around, and lay down naturally next to Lu Xu, his heart inexplicably full.

At the beginning, neither of them spoke, silent with a tacit understanding.

Ji Xiunian also didn’t know why he suddenly thought of a question that was important for him to know. “So, how old are you exactly?”

Because his face was very youthful, everyone, including Ji Xiunian, had assumed that Lu Xu was younger than them at the beginning. The data released to the public also said that he was 18.

But if he was a grim reaper, then he was probably not a mere 18 year old.

Ji Xiunian didn’t know why he was so concerned about Lu Xu’s age, but he couldn’t resist asking, “Thirty? Or, fifty years old?”

There was nothing to hide between friends, so Lu Xu told him directly. “No, I can’t remember the specifics but I’ve already been working at this job for over two hundred years…”

“Over two hundred years…”

Ji Xiunian had instinctively felt that Lu Xu was a little older than him, but didn’t think he was 200 something years older.

If he calculated this, Lu Xu was much older than his grandfather, or his great-grandfather, or even is great-great-grandfather…

Realising that he was overthinking, Ji Xiunian hurriedly halted his thoughts and forced his thoughts to not go in any weird directions.

“Sleep. If you sleep now you can still sleep a little bit.”

Lu Xu naturally didn’t know what Ji Xiunian was thinking of, and only pushed him to sleep. Like how Ji Xiunian was used to giving him milk, Lu Xu was also used to seeing him as a human being, and subconsciously felt that Ji Xiunian needed enough sleep.

It had to be said that habits were something that were difficult to change; even Lu Xu fell prey to this.

But when Ji Xiunian heard this, he felt very happy. The lips facing away from Lu Xu couldn’t resist lifting up.

No matter what kind of motive Lu Xu had in taking care of him, as long as he cared for him, it was enough.

He originally thought he was too excited to sleep, but because Lu Xu was by his side, it was already the next day by the time he was conscious again.

When Ji Xiunian opened his eyes again, Lu Xu had already cleaned up the bed and left.

Ji Xiunian vaguely heard the sound of the door shutting, but it took him a while to realize that that person was no longer by his side.

Last night seemed like a dream. Ji Xiunian reached out for his phone to send Lu Xu a message asking him what his plans for the day were.

He only discovered while also swiping through the hot search, that his and Fan Zeng’s names had actually appeared at the top of the list, with an “explosive” written beside it.

nao: at least jxn doesn’t have to worry about preying on an 18 yr old when he’s almost 30 anymore… but he might have something else to worry about now??